"We have CHURCH IN A BAR"
Quote from Forum Archives on May 6, 2004, 12:48 amPosted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
NOTE: Two items are below.
*************************************
From: Alan Senecal <senecal@sover.net>Over the past several months my family and I have been
helping some folks about two hours drive from our home.
They had been meeting in their home for quite some time.
They began to notice two things; they were outgrowing
their living room and more unsaved people began coming.After a little while the husband approached a local bar,
that's right a bar. He shared with the owners about Jesus
eating and drinking with publicans and sinners, about
church in the market place. Amazingly the owners loved
the idea and our friends started meeting there, in the bar,
on Sunday evenings (at no cost). What followed is still
amazing all of us. On any given Sunday night there are
between 60-120 people showing up. The average number
of non-Christians is around 30 with approximately 20-30
people being born again within the past 3-4 months. I, for
one, have always believed that the church should be in
the "market place". It's just great to see and experience
it like this, IN A BAR!
-Alan Senecal <
****************************Forwarded by: "Sam Buick" <the_dwelling_place@hotmail.com>
Taken From:
www.dawnministries.org/regions/nam/simplechurch/models/pub/Simple Church Models
-The Pub ChurchBar None is a church in a pub in Cardiff, Wales. Chris
Coffey, one of the founders, says "The employees like
working in the cellar which we rent every week. They enjoy
the atmosphere, take part in the discussions, and
sometimes ask for prayer. I think that is an indication:
when the employees who have to work during a Christian
event don't stand around, tensely waiting for the end, hating
every minute, that's a good sign..."Bar None began with three friends who met at a Christian
festival and discussed ideas of how to be church in an
unchurchlike manner. They came up with the idea of a pub
church. A group of Cardiff Christians decided to check out
the city's pubs, to find out if any were open for the idea of
being a pub church on Sunday. They expected rejection,
but were astonished that most were excited by the idea.
They finally settled on 'The Oz Bar' in the city centre.Newspapers and Bibles
In the first meetings, they laid Bibles and newspapers on
some of the tables, held discussions and sometimes a
10-minute talk, a songwriter presented a song, and
discussed the meaning. "The best evenings were often the
ones which we did not plan," says Chris. "Someone would
ask 'Why do you lot believe what you believe?' and things
would go from there. To start with, we had around 100
people each evening, including many curious Christians
from local churches. We now have thirty to forty regular
visitors, many of whom do not attend a 'normal' church
because they think they would not fit in. Bar None is one
of four fellowships belonging to the Glenwood Church. It is
important for people to recognize that they are not in a
waiting line for a 'real church', but that this is 'real church'!
And one of the most important things that we have learned
is that we do not need to have an answer to every question,
and do not need to justify everything that we do," he says.
=======================================
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
*************************************
From: Alan Senecal <senecal@sover.net>
Over the past several months my family and I have been
helping some folks about two hours drive from our home.
They had been meeting in their home for quite some time.
They began to notice two things; they were outgrowing
their living room and more unsaved people began coming.
After a little while the husband approached a local bar,
that's right a bar. He shared with the owners about Jesus
eating and drinking with publicans and sinners, about
church in the market place. Amazingly the owners loved
the idea and our friends started meeting there, in the bar,
on Sunday evenings (at no cost). What followed is still
amazing all of us. On any given Sunday night there are
between 60-120 people showing up. The average number
of non-Christians is around 30 with approximately 20-30
people being born again within the past 3-4 months. I, for
one, have always believed that the church should be in
the "market place". It's just great to see and experience
it like this, IN A BAR!
-Alan Senecal <
****************************
Forwarded by: "Sam Buick" <the_dwelling_place@hotmail.com>
Taken From:
http://www.dawnministries.org/regions/nam/simplechurch/models/pub/
Simple Church Models
-The Pub Church
Bar None is a church in a pub in Cardiff, Wales. Chris
Coffey, one of the founders, says "The employees like
working in the cellar which we rent every week. They enjoy
the atmosphere, take part in the discussions, and
sometimes ask for prayer. I think that is an indication:
when the employees who have to work during a Christian
event don't stand around, tensely waiting for the end, hating
every minute, that's a good sign..."
Bar None began with three friends who met at a Christian
festival and discussed ideas of how to be church in an
unchurchlike manner. They came up with the idea of a pub
church. A group of Cardiff Christians decided to check out
the city's pubs, to find out if any were open for the idea of
being a pub church on Sunday. They expected rejection,
but were astonished that most were excited by the idea.
They finally settled on 'The Oz Bar' in the city centre.
Newspapers and Bibles
In the first meetings, they laid Bibles and newspapers on
some of the tables, held discussions and sometimes a
10-minute talk, a songwriter presented a song, and
discussed the meaning. "The best evenings were often the
ones which we did not plan," says Chris. "Someone would
ask 'Why do you lot believe what you believe?' and things
would go from there. To start with, we had around 100
people each evening, including many curious Christians
from local churches. We now have thirty to forty regular
visitors, many of whom do not attend a 'normal' church
because they think they would not fit in. Bar None is one
of four fellowships belonging to the Glenwood Church. It is
important for people to recognize that they are not in a
waiting line for a 'real church', but that this is 'real church'!
And one of the most important things that we have learned
is that we do not need to have an answer to every question,
and do not need to justify everything that we do," he says.
=======================================